This is my newest masterpiece....it is a "Mexican Nicho" made by my very talented daughter Megan.


She made it in her art class at school. She was so excited to give it to me and I was thrilled to receive such a beautiful one of a kind piece of art. After she gave it to me she said "I'm sorry that I forgot to make you wearing your glasses." So I told her I didn't wear my glasses in my wedding pictures so we can pretend it's me on my wedding day. That seemed to be okay with her....and I love it glasses or no glasses.

Now a little art education: In Mexican and South American cultures, small decorated boxes called "Nichos" are commonly found in homes and public places, displayed on walls or pedestals. Made from wood or tin and often painted with bright colors, they provide a stage-like setting for an object or collection of objects that have great significance. Most commonly functioning as an altar for a religious icon, a Nicho can also serve as a memorial to a loved one or as a reminder of an important event.

From this
to this!

All it took was the plain clock set that my sister gave me last year, some Basic Grey paper, some rub on numbers, a cute little transparency that I got from the store that Terry works at, a piece of flowered paper for the center of the transparency and a little glitter glue.
The transparency says "LIVE OUT LOUD" and that is what pulled it all together and got me inspired to create it.
For all the products used please see my scrap blog :)

I love 2nd grade!

It's the year that my kids take off in reading...and start enjoying chapter books and series books. Megan is into the "Magic Tree House" series. The main characters Jack and Annie are brother and sister and they travel from in their tree house back in time and go on many adventures. Right now she is reading "Monday with a Mad Genius" and the kids are visiting Leonardo daVinci.

My post for Tuesday, 2-24-09

Paige's Bubble Mohawk

My post for Sunday, 2-22-09

Rowdy dog....he's my favorite!
Oh and after I took this picture he got a nice belly rub.

My post for Saturday, 2-21-09

What to do when you are bored in winter?

Hmmm how about give the dog a bag with Wheat Thin crumbs to lick out. That is Rowdy dog cleaning out the last of the crumbs. He didn't seem to care that we were laughing at him as he walked around with a bag on his head. The younger dog would not play along, but he was helping clean the floor of crumbs.

We had company today....

Aunt Deb dropped Joe Boxer off this morning so he could spend the entire day with us while she went out of town for some meetings. After she picked him up (at 6 p.m.) Rebel was whining and looking out the window by the door. I think he was sad that his big buddy was gone. This morning when Joe came over Rebel was running around and yapping at Joe to play with him. Joe is pretty good at ignoring him, but when the girls got home from school everyone was playing, even ol Rowdy got into the act.

We got together last night to celebrate Brittney's 17th birthday (it was yesterday) and Aaron's 14th birthday (it's today). Paige and Megan were excited to see their cousins. Before we left Damon's I had them line up for a nice "cousins picture", too bad Brandon couldn't make it.


This is the nice shot above and of course we had to have a silly shot too.

Monthly Mugshots!
To make your midweek a little more enjoyable


smiles from our home to yours :)

My Valentines!

Roses are Red, Lilly's are white
Eat your sugar cookies frosting side down
for an extra delight!

My Valentine from Paige. Last summer when we were visiting Pop-pop and Mimi in CA the girls would hang out with Mimi in her art studio. Mimi let them fill up some containers with beads, buttons and charms. Paige made me a necklace from some of her treasures and she gave me a pin that was made by her art teacher at school.

I took the girls to see "Bolt" at the dollar movies today...it was fifty cent day. Didn't take any pictures so go fish!

My post for Sunday 2-15-09

Another blast from last year...hanging with Nemo in front of Aquarium Adventure!

My post for Saturday, 2-14-09

I didn't take any new pictures this weekend...so this is from exactly one year ago today...2-14-08 when Aunt Shann came to visit us and we had an awesome week full of fun, laughter and love!

My post for Friday, 2-13-09

We had a lot going on this past Wednesday. Megan had her science experiment at one and at two they had the dress rehearsal for the 5th grade musical. They have been working on this since last fall. They did a fantastic job, Megan's teacher has seen all the 5th grade musicals for the past 6 years (as long as the school has been open) and she said this one was the best ever!
I'm glad I stayed for the dress rehearsal because we did not get close enough to take pictures at the evening show. The title of the show was
SNOW BIZ
all the songs were related to the fun and frustration of a large snow storm. Here are Paige, Sydney, Jennifer, Mikaela and Hailey doing a 50's style do wop called "Snow Angel" about a snow angel that gets covered by the snow plow as it rolls by.

My post for Thursday 2-12-09 I'm Back!

First of all I am sorry that it has taken me so long to get these posted. I was at the school all afternoon on Wed. then we went back in the evening for the 5th grade musical (also had a 5 hour long power outage that night). Thursday I worked and helped with homework and making a valentine box and took Paige to dance. Friday I dropped the kids off at school and the drinks for Megan's valentine party. Went straight to work from their, then back to the school after work for the parties. Then I worked from 8 to 4 on Saturday and came home with a huge headache and took a 3 hour nap while Mike and the girls continued to play the Wii. So here they are a little late........but what's new!

Megan doing her science experment in class on Wednesday afternoon. She was the first one to present an experiment. This was all voluntary, if you wanted to sign up you did, but they get extra credit for doing it. She did a wonderful job and her teacher was impressed with how well she wrote out her hypothesis. The kids liked how she made the ice blue and the hot water red, they thought it was a good effect.

More love to share!

Some Valentine Inspiration For You!

My post for Monday, 2-9-09

Megan made it rain in the house last night!

Megan signed up to share a science experiment to share with her 2nd grade class. I am taking it to school for her to share on Wednesday. Last night we gave it a little test run. If you click on the photo above you may be able to see the raindrops (condensation) better.
I tell ya waiting for the rain to fall was almost as bad as waiting for water to boil!

My post for Sunday, 2-08-09

I should have taken more pictures but we were a little busy. We watched "Mary Poppins" after dinner on Saturday. Can you believe that Deb has lived 41 years without seeing "Mary Poppins". Well we fixed that! Then after breakfast and dog walks on Sunday we turned Deb's dining and kitchen into "Valentines central". The girls made Valentines for their teachers and classmates and Deb and I whipped up a few too. During creative breaks Megan built a fort on the stairs too. I will post more pics on my main blog later today 0r tomorrow.

My Post for Saturday, 2-07-09
Saturday morning we got up and went to the credit union to open an account for our health insurance then we took the girls to brunch at First Watch. When we returned home the girls and I packed up for a sleepover at Aunt Deb's house. Bud was in Florida so except for Rebel and Joe Boxer it was "girls only".
Deb mad me a scrumptious dinner of chicken breast stuffed with mushrooms, radicchio and four cheese blend from Trader Joes, baked potato casserole, and steamed broccoli . I made a salad for us of bib lettuce, green onions, avocado, hard boiled eggs, bacon and dressed with fresh lemon, olive oil, fresh ground black pepper and sea salt.

My post for Friday, 2-06-09

Sorry folks...but this was my first weekend off work since Halloween weekend. So I was TBTB (Too Busy To Blog)
Now it's Monday...catch up day.

Megan and Paige at school Friday night for the PTO pasta dinner -book fair fundraiser. Each grade performed songs and the 5th graders even played their band instruments. It was a fun night. I will post more pictures on my main blog later today.

They (the weather gurus) say the thaw is coming. It is supposed to get into the upper 40's over the weekend. I think we are all done-over-tired of the snow, ice and cold. We need a break.
I took this picture yesterday when I was walking with Joe.

My post for Wednesday, 2-04-09

I had a little visit with Joe Boxer :)

Mike worked from home today since Megan was home sick. That meant I could go into work from 10 to 2 and that I could go take Joe out since Deb had to be out at a meeting.
I could have called off work and they would have been okay with it. Heck they forgot to put me on the break schedule, my supervisor didn't even think I was scheduled. But I went in so my paycheck would be 4 hours bigger....plus with Mike home with Megan that meant I could spend a little extra time with my buddy Joe. He is always so thrilled to see me. He really is a special guy. After our walk I found some wee little treats in a canister on the counter. He was happy to chomp them down but then he started pawing at a drawer in the kitchen. When I opened it there was a bag of LARGE cheese flavored dog treats...so here is Joe about "TO GET" his treat. He will not move until I say "GET IT" he may drool but he will not move. That's Joe he's good like that!

My post for Tuesday. 2-03-09

I don't have a "fresh out of the camera" shot today so we will use this cute picture of Megan and Rebel from Sunday night.



Tuesday we rushed out the door to dance and then came home about 15 minutes early because poor Megan is coming down with a cold. She had a coughing fit in ballet so I suggested that we go home and get her in a warm bath. I had tried to talk her into skipping dance but she wanted to do jazz class so she could start learning the "lightning dance". She was just watching from the sidelines in ballet but then started dancing when they were working on the "waterfall" dance. Shortly after that she had a coughing fit. I gave her a lifesaver candy and her water and we headed for home before they started the tap portion of her class. She was willing and ready to go home. She ended up waking up with a fever Wed. morning, so she stayed home from school Wed. and again today (Thursday).

What I Paid For Gas on 2-01-09

Yep that's right .789 cents per gallon. Before we went to buy our new microwave at Best Buy last week we stopped at a local grocery store and bought a gift card for Best Buy. Then we got a dollar off per gallon in fuel perks, oh and we got a free car wash coupon too. While I was filling up the minivan I also filled up our three gas cans that we use for the snow blower. I hope that didn't jinx us into getting two feet of snow this weekend!

Go Steelers!

Did you wear your 3-D glasses after the 2nd quarter ?

Paige and Megan were wearing them almost the entire 1st half of the game, they were prepared!
They had to go to bed after halftime so they did not get to see Antonio (former Buckeye) Holmes make the winning touchdown, but they may have heard us cheering him on. Did you hear Antonio say "The Ohio State" after Ben gave his chat and they were going back down to the field. That was a great sit on the edge of your seat game!

My post for Saturday, 1-31-09

She can still stand on her head and smile too.

Oh and she can knock her dad out in Wii boxing. It is too funny she punches and jabs and works up a sweat. Friday night she had to take her sweater off (she had a t-shirt underneath) because she was getting hot. She laughs like crazy when she knocks her dad out. Who knew she would be a boxing champ at age 7?